


all we do is drive

by writerlily



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-20 01:21:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4768220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerlily/pseuds/writerlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times Seth leaves Kate + 1 time he stays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

1.

After everything that’s happened, how could he possibly rope her into another ride with him? How could she even be willing to come along with him?

_You want some company?_

It’s tempting to say yes, to open the passenger door of this expensive car, and to drive off with her somewhere far away from the bar. It’s tempting to say yes, because for as independent as he claims to be, he’s always worked better with someone-- _with Richie_ \-- by his side. But his nerves are raw and the blood splattered across her face makes him think too much about what just happened and he's not ready to deal with that yet. He's not ready to deal with her cuts and bruises when he doesn't even know how to take care of his own. 

“Go home Kate,” are his last words to her that day as he gets into the shiny black car.

He speeds off, not wanting to look in his rear view mirror to see her until she fades away. Clouds of dust billow behind him anyway, making it almost impossible to see anything. But he has a clear thought in his mind and that's to drive.

2.

Seth has to do a double take when he sees her working behind the counter of the bar he’s just opened the door to. He’s still straddling the line between walking in, or getting back in his car and driving a million miles away. But then her eyes flick up to his, and like a deer caught in headlights, he can’t move. He’s frozen by the shock of her blue eyes at seeing him.

“Seth,” his name comes out in a relieved kind of breath, which is not what he was expecting to happen. He thought she’d chuck that bottle of tequila she’s holding at his head for leaving her behind. And he definitely didn’t expect himself to feel his own sense of relief at seeing her alive, and hearing her say his name. 

He knows that it’s been some time that’s passed by since the titty twister, but the memories he’s been repressing hit him at full force while he stares at Kate. Memories of all of the violence, and screams, and blood, and death, and Richie. He walks back out of the bar, ignoring her yelling at him to wait. And that triggers another memory, of them being trapped and how he had been so ready to run and leave her behind. He shakes his head and gets back in his stolen car. He’s hit with a sick sense of deja vu, because isn’t it just fucking hilarious that the first time he sees her since leaving her, he's doing the exact same thing again? He pushes his rear view mirror to the side and drives straight until he reaches a new bar a few towns over. There’s a female bartender with a flirtatious smile and long blonde hair and Seth drinks until he stops imagining a shy smile with brown hair instead.

3.

He’s never gone to church. He thought that he’d probably be set on fire or struck by lighting if he ever stepped foot in one. He and Vanessa didn’t even get married in a church either. He didn’t care to and she was never really religious herself. And yet he finds himself at a church one afternoon. It’s the kind of church that could double as a large castle with windows of broken stained glass and a cross raised high above him.

He kind of wishes it would fall down and stab him through his chest.

He walks in, expecting something to actually happen, but he’s met with silence. The church is nearly empty, save for one or two people scattered across the pews. His boots thud heavily on the white marble flooring and he takes a seat in the back, behind the other people, and stares head on at the front of the church. He doesn’t really know why he’s here. He had been driving when he saw the daunting looking church, and something prompted him to come inside. And now that he’s in here he can’t help but feel small and insignificant.

He’s not here to search for answers, or to confess to some priest who would probably call the cops at Seth’s list of illegal sins. He knows better than to expect some kind of revelation or awakening that would bring him closer to God. Or whatever. He’s not expecting all the answers he needs to be laid out in front of him. He’s not sure if God works that way and he doesn’t know how to pray. He doesn’t know what he’s doing at all and that makes him lean forward with his elbows on his knees and his face between his hands.

He doesn’t look up when he hears a set of light footsteps walking down his aisle. He figures it’s a priest ready to try to engage him in some kind of conversation about how God is thy Lord and savior. But the voice isn’t that of a priests. “Never would have thought I’d see you in one of these.”

Seth wants to bang his head against a brick wall. Of course he would run into her here, of fucking course he would. Because the universe hates him and wants to torment him further. “And I see that you haven’t lost your faith,” he mumbles without lifting his head up. He feels her take a seat beside him and he has half a mind to push her away. That’s all he seems to be good at doing when it comes to Kate.

“It’s nice to come in here and think,” Kate says softly. There’s still that touch of innocence to her voice that makes Seth feel like an even bigger bastard than before for some reason. 

He rubs a hand over his face then looks forward towards the lit candles at the front of the room. “What happened to the bar?"

“I got tired of that place. Went town to town to figure things out. One of the nuns here offered me a job cleaning up the place after mass. It doesn’t pay well, but it’s something,” she shrugs lightly and twiddles her thumbs. She looks at him and he feels her eyes roam over the side of his face. “You grew out your facial hair,” she says thoughtfully.

Seth, despite himself, can’t help but snort. “Haven’t had much time to properly groom myself.” He sighs and leans back against his seat. His knee knocks into hers and they both finally look at each other at the same time. He sees the way her lips purse and the slight sadness that creeps into her eyes. He wonders what she thinks when she looks at him. He wonders if she sees her brother and father.

She takes his hand in his and for some reason, he lets her. He hasn’t been touched like this in God only knows how long. There’s no malicious intent behind her touch. She’s not seeking to hurt him, even though the palm of his hand feels tingly pressed against hers. Her hands are too clean and soft compared to his calloused hands with dirt filling in his palm lines. She squeezes his hand gently and closes her eyes. He wonders if she still prays after everything that happened to her. He wonders if her faith has wavered when life has been nothing but unkind to her. What he does know is that he is not a good person. For all his good intentions, everything he’s touched has turned bad. Except for Kate, it seems, and it stirs something inside of him that makes him gently pull his hand out of her grasp.

She doesn’t even protest when she opens her eyes. “How long are you planning on staying?”

There’s a twinge of hope in her voice. “I’m not staying,” he ignores how much that makes him feel like an asshole. Maybe he's being selfish by always leaving her behind, because he knows he’s not the only one who lost something back at the titty twister, but he’s in no position to be of help to her right now. He’d probably end up dragging her down with him and he doesn’t want that to happen to her at all. “You look good, princess,” he says and the endearment he used to always call her slips easily out of his mouth. She’s in a light dress covered with tiny flowers. It’s the kind of dress he always imagined she’d wear to church.

She sighs and does that thing of looking down at her hands while her jaw ticks. He knows those little tells; it’s a sign that she’s ready to rip him a new one and he waits for it, standing there with his hands shoved far into the pockets of his jeans. But she doesn’t yell at him, or snap at him like he would deserve. She doesn’t even ask him to stay. She simply looks forward. “Bye Seth.”

She doesn’t follow him out this time and he can’t help the way his eyes linger on his rear view mirror as he drives away.


	2. Chapter 2

4.  
“What the fuck happened to your job at the church?”

“It got boring.”

“It… got… boring,” he says slowly, flatly, narrowing his eyes at her. He doesn’t like this one bit and he glares at her as she closes the thick red curtains around the dimly lit booth they’re in. He knows what happens behind the curtains and being here with Kate is making him think all the wrong things. The last time he had seen her, she looked so pure and sweet and now, she’s in an outfit that makes Seth’s throat dry. This just reeks of bad news and he hates that he had to run into her here of all places. “So you became a fucking dancer?”

Kate rolls her eyes. “I’m not a stripper or anything,” she says with her nose pointed in the air, understanding what his tone is implying. “I'm a waitress here, Seth.”

He shakes his head, not liking this at all, and especially not liking the way those men’s eyes practically undressed her in the other room. He takes off his jacket. “You should not be here. You’re going to quit right now.”

He steps in front of her to drape his jacket across her shoulders to cover up how scantily dressed she is and Seth resists the urge to punch something.

Her eyes flash dangerously at him. “I am not quitting,” she says indignantly and pushes him aside with her small hands. He barely budges and she looks even more frustrated than she did a second ago. “I’m not going to quit just because you tell me to! I haven’t seen you in months and whenever we run into each other you can’t wait to get your foot out the door,” she’s on a roll now and Seth knew this was coming. She points an accusatory finger at him with her face flushed with anger. His jacket is slipping off of her shoulders, revealing more of her creamy skin and Seth’s jaw clenches. “So do what you do best and just leave.”

“You’d fucking love that, wouldn’t you?”

Kate steps back. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Forget it,” he shakes his head, but she latches into his arm, with a vice like grip.

“Tell me what you meany by that,” she says in a deadly calm voice.

He curses under his breath. “I know you look at me and see the family and life that you lost,” he looks at her as her eyes begin to redden. Fuck. He didn’t want to make her cry. He’s already fucking up again. “Every time I’m around you, bad things happen.”

She lets go of him and it somehow makes it easier for him to breath. He clenches his jaw, waiting for her to say something. He can only hear the muffled music from the front of the room, the beat matching the pulsing in his head. 

“You think I liked being on my own all this time?” She asks him softly, sadly, as she moves closer to him, until their chest are almost touching. “You think I wanted you to leave me behind all those times?”

“You don’t understand.”

He doesn’t know if it’s their close proximity, or how beautiful she looks, or how her words punch him in the gut, that almost makes him take that one little step to close the space between them. But he just shakes his head, thinking that he may be a bastard, but he’s not a fucking bastard, and he pries her hand off of his arm. He walks to the curtain and chances a look at her over his shoulder. She looks just as defeated as he feels, with her makeup smudged now, and his jacket not doing its job of covering her up. He’s probably just ruined her night and he runs a hand through his hair.

“Just… be safe,” he says because he can’t answer her questions and he doesn’t know if that makes him a coward. For all his manly macho, he can’t even face Kate Fuller. He leaves the club, half expecting her to follow him out into the night. He knows she won’t though and he knows better than to look in his rear view mirror. 

5.  
He’s had low points in his life, but those times don’t touch the way he is now. 

Especially not when he flicks the needle filled with drugs and proceeds to stab it into a vein. There’s that immediate feeling of the drugs rushing through his veins and it makes him land in a heap on top of the dirty motel bed. 

His vision swims, going in and out, and there’s an almost euphoric feeling settling over him. He’s rolling on the bed now and he can’t think coherently enough to make sure that he keeps himself propped up by two pillows. 

It must be by the grace of God that he manages to wake up later in the night alive. He’s still high, the effect hasn’t completely worn off, and he stays laying down to ride it out. Everything is blurry and he waves a hand in front of him, but his limbs are heavy. He starts blinking faster when he sees a figure standing before him.

“Look at you,” a gentle voice says and his chest constricts. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, but Kate is here with him, and it makes his lips quirk up in the slightest way. 

She sits down next to him and places his arm on her lap. He’s immediately drawn into how warm she feels, how very real she feels, next to him. She brings a hand down to caress the side of his face and he can’t help but lean into her familiar, soothing touch. 

“You’re a mess,” she chides him as if he were a teenager, but there’s a fondness to her voice.

“What are you doing here?” He manages to slur out.

Kate shakes her head and gives him a sad smile. “I couldn’t leave you.” 

She brings her other hand now to cradle his head. Her fingers lightly run through his hair and he smiles, actually fucking smiles, because he’s still coming down from a high and Kate is here with him, and he can’t remember feeling this warm in a long time. “I could never leave you,” and she sounds resigned with the fact.

Her hands on his head suddenly tighten enough for him to notice and before he can react, she’s pushing his head aside, and he feels the puncture of fangs through the skin on his neck. 

He screams, actually screams like a child again, and pushes her off. He keeps pushing his arms out and flailing his body around, until he lands on the floor. He shakes his head to clear his mind and looks up to find the room completely empty. He brings a hand up to his neck and his breathing slows when he realizes what just happened. He hangs his head between his knees and lets out a shuddering breath. 

What the fuck was that?

It takes him a few hours to be able to dress himself and get back in his car. He has his thick black sunglasses on and a cup of steaming coffee next to him. He can’t bring himself to look at the motel door and he’s just ready to leave that Kate behind in there.

1.

It doesn’t take him long to track her down. 

He never tried to actively find her before and he finds that it’s actually pretty easy. Apparently she hasn’t gotten any better at hiding her tracks, and he thinks she’s so fucking foolish for it, but then he remembers that there’s no one left who would want to find her. 

Well, except him, of course. 

She ditched the job at the club and he mumbles a “thank fuck” under his breath as he spots her working at the cafe across the street. He’s trying his best to look as inconspicuous as possible, but he’s always been the type of person to attract attention no matter what. 

After the incident at the motel, he got rid of the rest of his drugs, and went back to doing some minor theft. But Kate had been all that he could think about.  
_  
You think I wanted you to leave me behind all those times?_

He walks straight towards the cafe, where she’s speaking to someone in spanish. It makes him smirk and that’s when she looks up, to see him watching her.

Her lips part in surprise, but she snaps out of it to finish writing whatever her customer is ordering. She rushes back inside the cafe, throwing one more look at him. 

He follows her inside and waves off another waitress that tries helping him. He's only here for one person and he stands by the counter, waiting for her to emerge from the kitchens. He drums his hand against the sticky counter, uses his other hand to rub his jaw. 

When she comes from behind the kitchen doors, she looks absolutely flustered by his presence. She tugs her skirt down and nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. 

She looks good. She's not wearing heavy markup the way that she was at the club. There's a light blush on her cheeks (which he suspects is natural) and her hair looks longer than he's ever seen it on her. 

He's _missed_ her, he realizes, and swallows the lump in his throat. 

"Hey sweetheart," is all he thinks to say because she's just standing there staring at him and he wonders what she's seeing while she's looking at him. She looks relieved, if anything, and her hands keep tightening around her apron. 

Kate clears her throat. Pulls a laminated menu from behind the counter and slides it to him. He reaches forward before she can pull away. Puts his hand over hers. 

"For here, or to go?" She asks him and glances at their hands together. 

"For here," he says. He moves closer and her eyes snap back up to his. "For a while-- if you'll have me." 

Kate is quiet for a moment. Then another moment. And another. And Seth is starting to rethink his whole idea of coming back to her; starting to think that he's probably just _too late_ and he shouldn't have been so damn dense before, but then-- then she nods. She nods and this is probably one of the better moments of his life. 

"I think that'll work just fine with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took me a year to post!

**Author's Note:**

> since it's a 5+1 thing, i just decided to split it into two chapters cause... reasons. lol anyway happy readings my fellow sethkate shippers! feedback is always appreciated :)


End file.
